{"id":634144,"date":"2026-10-18T07:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/634144\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T07:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:42:14","slug":"moorby-try-double-highlights-all-blacks-game-of-two-halves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/634144\/","title":{"rendered":"Moorby try double highlights All Blacks’ game of two halves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picking just one of the seven All Blacks tries that best summed up their 43-21 victory over Australia in a masterclass in cohesive attack and decision-making in Sydney on Saturday was difficult – but Josh Moorby’s second five-pointer might be it.<\/p>\n

By Pat McKendry of RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n

After a bruising run by second-five Timoci Tavatavanawai – a late replacement following the withdrawal, before kickoff, of Jordie Barrett – the ball found left wing Moorby, who showed it to Wallabies right wing Max Jorgensen and halfback Ryan Lonergan, and went over untouched.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, that converted score was the All Blacks’ final points of an extraordinary afternoon in front of 73,000 at Accor Stadium, as the Wallabies, swept again in the Bledisloe Cup for the sixth successive year, finally found something.<\/p>\n

The home side had the better of the second half – helped by the fact the All Blacks played the final 12 minutes shorthanded – and five minutes with just 13 players – due to debutant Chay Fihaki’s yellow card for a high tackle and, before that, replacement hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho’s injury, which left them with no more players on the bench.<\/p>\n

\"Rieko<\/p>\n

Rieko Ioane of the All Blacks scores a try against the Wallabies at Accor Stadium in Sydney. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

The visitors were scoring at almost a point a minute, when Damian McKenzie’s conversion for Moorby’s second try went over and – led by skipper Codie Taylor, loose forward Peter Lakai and a rejuvenated Beauden Barrett, who also scored a double – Dave Rennie’s men looked as good as they have all year.<\/p>\n

They committed to backing up last weekend’s victory at Eden Park and, perhaps inspired by the bright afternoon sunshine, played with a continuity and skill that blew the Wallabies away in the first half.<\/p>\n

They did it despite Jordie Barrett’s calf problem, which ruled him out hours before kickoff, and fellow midfielder Quinn Tupaea’s head injury within two minutes of the start.<\/p>\n

Despite a very much reshuffled line-up, the intensity with which the All Blacks went about their work was almost as impressive as their short-passing game, which showed an incredible appreciation for time and space against a Wallabies team determined to right the wrongs of last weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Moorby in action against the Wallabies in the second Bledisloe Cup Test at Accor Stadium in Sydney. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

The All Blacks had four tries in the space of 14 minutes, Moorby, Beauden Barrett, Lakai and Rieko Ioane – on for Tupaea – all finishing scores that highlighted their killer instinct.<\/p>\n

Lock Jeremy Williams’ reply for the Wallabies was only a blip, as the All Blacks made the most of Williams’ yellow card for offside after the re-start for Wallace Sititi to over from a scrum and Barrett putting an exclamation on the half with an intercept try from 70m out.<\/p>\n

“I thought we were awesome in that first 40 – just backing ourselves and playing what was in front of us – but the second 40 was a bit different,” Taylor said afterwards.<\/p>\n

Counterpart Harry Wilson said: “I’m gutted. When you give a team like the All Blacks a headstart, it’s tough… we’re going to have to improve a lot.”<\/p>\n

Australia fought back with two tries to one in the second half, but this was a devastating loss for them in their final home game of the year. Their next home test is in Perth on Anzac Day, 2027.<\/p>\n

\"Beauden<\/p>\n

Beauden Barrett of the All Blacks scores a try against the Wallabies in Sydney. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for them, their opponents are the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

Wing Will Jordan’s absence in the second half may spark concerns about a potential injury and Shannon Frizell’s leg issue after he come into the test off the bench may also be a problem.<\/p>\n

As Taylor hinted, the second-half performance may come under some scrutiny by Rennie and company, but maintain such intensity is difficult, when the game is all but over at halftime, and after last weekend’s second-half performance at Eden Park, it was a reminder that if this team get it right, they can be devastating.<\/p>\n

All Blacks 43 (Beauden Barrett 2, Josh Moorby 2, Peter Lakai, Rieko Ioane & Wallace Sititi tries; Damian McKenzie 4 conversions) Australia 21 (Jeremy Williams, Tom Wright & Filipo Daugunu tries; Ryan Lonergan 2 conversions, Declan Meredith conversion)<\/p>\n

Halftime: 36-5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Picking just one of the seven All Blacks tries that best summed up their 43-21 victory over Australia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[789,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-634144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}